Transportation system

ABSTRACT

A transportation system including vehicles running in a substantially continuous row between two parallel guide surfaces by means of lower and upper wheels engaging said upper and lower guide surface but being freely movable with respect thereto. The lower wheels serve for supporting and steering the vehicles and at least one upper wheel serves for controlling the appropriate inclination of the vehicle with regard to the guide surface. A guide surface may be provided with a guide track separating at bifurcations. A feeler associated with the vehicle engages the guide track, so that the vehicle will follow the one or the other branch of the guide surface at a bifurcation.

United States Patent [72] lnventor Willi Eichholz Gr. l-lakenstrasse 48,56 Wuppertal- Barmen, Germany [21] Appl. No. 732,636 [22] Filed May 28,1968 [45] Patented Nov. 9, 1971 [54] TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM 1 Claim, 11Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S.Cl 104/121, 104/245 [51] Int. Cl B61b /02, EOlb /08 FieldofSearch 104/88, 121, 244.1, 245, 247; 105/147; 246/415, 415 A; /79

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,238,894 3/1966 Maksim,.lr.104/121 564,369 7/1896 Farnham 104/121 Primary Examiner-Arthur L. LaPoint Assistant Examiner- Robert Saifei Attorney-Willi EichholzABSTRACT: A transportation system including vehicles running in asubstantially continuous row between two parallel guide surfaces bymeans of lower and upper wheels engaging said upper and lower guidesurface but being freely movable with respect thereto. The lower wheelsserve for supporting and steering the vehicles and at least one upperwheel serves for controlling the appropriate inclination of the vehiclewith regard to the guide surface. A guide surface may be provided with aguide track separating at bifurcations. A feeler associated with thevehicle engages the guide track, so that the vehicle will follow the oneor the other branch of the guide surface at a bifurcation.

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' sum 1 BF 3 INVEN'IOR M'III EI'ch h 012 I ATTORNEYS PATENTEUNBV 9197!3618' 531 SHEET 2 [1F 3 INVI. N [OR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM This inventionrelates to transportation systems, in particular to a masstransportation system comprising a plurality of self-driven individualcars capable of following a specific road system independent of theconventional road system in accordance with a predetermined program.

As is generally known, conventional trafiic with individual automobilesusing the conventional public road system faces increasing problemsinsofar as the population is continuously growing, more automobiles areowned by more people and more and more use is made of individualautomobiles, so that traffic jams, especially during rush hours, in manyplaces, and in particular big cities, are becoming almost a normalsituation. As a result, transportation is becoming slower and slower, inspite of the automobiles actually being built increasingly powerful andfast.

Public transportation means such as buses or street cars, for example,basically suffer from the same disadvantage as they, too, have to usethe same public conventional road system as individual automobiles,trucks and the like.

With trains, of course, problems of the aforementioned kind are notencountered due to the specific tracks available for the movement ofthese trains. On the other hand, a passenger using a train is bound tocatch that train at a certain time which may not suit him or he may evenmiss a particular train and then not be able to find anothersatisfactory connection in lieu thereof. Moreover, normal tracks fortrains need comparatively much space and are expensive so that stationsfor leaving or entering these trains cannot always be located in closeenough a distance from the place that the passenger wants to leave orthat he wants to go to, respectively.

Due to this situation, new transportation systems are under developmentusing a separate specific road system and a large number of independentindividual self-driven cars capable of moving along that specific roadsystem which preferably extends at a different level than theconventional roads do. The road system required therefore does not takeup as much space as conventional railroad tracks or the like, and theexpenses involved are considerably lower, so that such systems mayextend as a comparatively tight network and conveniently may connect agreat number of points with each other. Before entering one of theseindividual cars here in question, the passenger will select his point ofdestination at a certain station and accordingly will receive a punchedcard or a similar means by which he may feed the car chosen by him, sothat the car is controlled by the program stored in the aforementionedpunched card or like means. In accordance with the stored program, thecar will run along the specific road system at a substantially constantspeed, with the passenger not having to pay any attention to steeringproblems or to avoiding collisions with other cars as all individualcars are following each other continually in one single row. Only wheretwo branches are merging into each other, special provisions are takenso that the cars running in from the two converging branches will findsuitable gaps and will not interfere with each other.

In using such a system, the passenger will enjoy practically all theadvantages of a private individual automobile as he will not depend on acertain time but may start his trip any time he wants to do so. On theother hand, he does not have to stay within a train composed of severalintercoupled cars, but he may follow exactly the shortest routeconnecting him with his point of destination, just as this holds truewith the conventional road system. Thus, due to the flexibility of theindividual cars, no transfer from one train to another is necessary.Beyond that, the transportation system here in question may extend rightthrough business or apartment buildings so that the passenger may leavehis means of transportation even closer to his point of destination thanthis is normally possible when an automobile is used, apart from theproblem of parking and so forth.

However, in order to be able to successfully apply such a transportationsystem in practice, it is one of the conditions, that the specific roadsystem comprised thereby be comparatively inexpensive and especially beas little space consuming as possible.

It is therefore a main object of this invention to provide atransportation system requiring only a comparatively narrow width withthe individual cars yet being easily steerable without a rigid railsystem as used in conventional train transportation.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a transportationsystem wherein the direction of movement of the individual cars may beconveniently controlled along a normal section of the specific roadsystem as well as at points where the road system bifurcates, so thatswitches may be omitted, whereas the proper selection of direction atpoints of bifurcation is guaranteed in all circumstances.

Accordingly, the invention provides a transportation system comprising alower and a corresponding upper guide surface extending substantiallyparallel with respect to each other in spaced apart relationship. Thetransportation system of this invention further comprises a plurality ofindividual vehicles each including suitable means for propelling thevehicle. At the lower side of the vehicles, which may be of cabinlikeconfiguration, there are at least two lower wheels mounted that arespaced apart from each other in the direction of movement of thevehicle, and which preferably are located in one common plane. At leastone upper wheel is mounted at the upper end of the vehicle and by meansof springs or the like the lower and the upper wheels are urged awayfrom each other, so that the vehicle is held in an upright position andprevented from turning over. Due to this solution it is not necessary toprevent the cars from turning over by means of wheels extending next toeach other in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of thevehicle and having a comparatively wide distance from each other so toassure the required stability, as this is true with conventionalautomobiles or railroad cars. Furthermore, there is practically norestriction as to the height of the center of gravity.

As a result, the transportation system of this invention may be of verynarrow width and yet offer great comfort and safety.

At least one of the lower wheels will serve for steering purposes,whereas the upper wheel is so mounted and controlled that by propermovement of this wheel about a vertical axis it may keep the vehicle ina proper vertical or inclined position, respectively, depending onwhether a straight section or a curve is passed.

Transportation systems including lower wheels as well as upper wheelsgenerally are already known. U.S. Pat. No. 3,238,894 shows such aduo-rail transportation system, for example. However, the means oftransportation there is not comprised of individual cars, but isconstituted by one single unit receiving a great number of passengers asconventional trains. The vehicles do not engage respective guidesurfaces by wheels freely rotatable with respect to the guide surfaces,but are running in recesses that have the function of regular rails.U.S. Pat. No. 1,238,276 discloses an elevated railroad structure, withthe passenger cars being guided not only by lower rails but also byupper rails. The upper rails are engaged by wheels in the same manner asthe lower rails. The upper wheels in this case merely serve to decreasethe likelihood of derailing at high speeds of the train. The upperwheels neither assure the basic stability of the vehicle nor are theyfreely movable with regard to the rail system so that they do not permitfree movement of the vehicle in a direction transverse to thelongitudinal direction of the rails.

Further details and advantages of this invention will become apparentfrom the following description of preferred embodiments of thisinvention in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. I is a schematic cross-sectional view of a transportation systemaccording to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial schematic elevational side view of thetransportation system of this invention;

FIG. 3 on an enlarged scale is a partial view of the lower portion ofthe vehicle according to this invention, showing more structuraldetails;

FIG. 3a shows a further structural detail of FIG. 3;

FIG. 4 on an enlarged scale illustrates structural details of the upperportion of the vehicle used in the transportation system of thisinvention;

FIG. 5 schematically shows a feeler arrangement for guiding the vehicle,according to a further embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 6 is a partial schematic top view on the specific road system ofthis invention at a point of bifurcation. substantially corresponding tothe embodiment of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a partial end view of a vehicle equipped with feeler means forguiding the vehicle along the specific road system, according to anotherembodiment of this invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic top view on an intersection of two branches of thespecific road system, each having a guide track in accordance with theembodiment of FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is a partial cross section through a guide track as used forexample in connection with the embodiment of FIG. 5 simultaneouslyserving for supplying electric energy to the vehicle; and

FIG. I0 is a partial view of the lower portion of a vehicle equippedwith feeler means, according to a further modified embodiment of thisinvention.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 schematically represents the crosssection of the specific road system of this invention and arepresentative vehicle associated therewith. A lower and an upper pairof brackets 11, 12, respectively, are mounted at opposite sides of anupright 10, which is fastened to the ground 16. The brackets l1, 12,have substantially horizontal lower and upper guide surfaces 13, 14,respectively. Lower bracket 11 preferably extends at a level beingsufficiently distant from ground 16, so that conventional vehicles maypass below bracket 11 without any difficulties. The distance betweenlower surface 13 and upper surface 14 and the width of brackets 11, 12is chosen such that a vehicle here generally designated 20 may just bereceived by the U-shaped cross section defined by lower bracket 11,upper bracket 12 and the portion of upright extending therebetween.

The vehicle includes a cabin 22 that may be provided with windows 23 asshown in FIG. 2. At least one front wheel 25a and one rear wheel 25!;are mounted to the lower end of vehicle 20. At the top of vehicle 20,and preferably symmetrically between wheels 25a and 25b, there ismounted an upper wheel 26. According to the invention, the vehicle 20 isprovided with appropriate spring means so to spread wheels 25 and 26apart from each other in vertical direction and to press wheels 25, 26into tight engagement with guide surfaces 13 and 14, respectively.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a possible embodiment thereof. Asevident, wheel 25 may be provided with two opposite stub shaftsprotruding through elongated slots 29 provided in lateral plates 28, asapparent from FIG. 3 and FIG. 3a, the plates 28 being fixedly secured tothe vehicle 20 in a suitable manner. Lower cup members 32a are connectedwith stub shafts 30 and upper cup members 32b are fixedly mounted to asuitable frame (not shown) of vehicle 20, so that spring 34 may bereceived in a pair of corresponding cup members 320 and 32b. Springs 34then push wheels 25 in a downward direction, with slots 29 assuringproper guidance of wheels 25 during their reciprocal movement in thelongitudinal direction of slots 29.

One of the two lower wheels 250; b is also mounted in such a manner thatit may rotate about a vertical axis in order to steer vehicle 20.

Upper wheel 26 is supported in a manner so that it may swing about avertical axis. Thus, the inclination of the vehicle with regard to thelower guide surface 13 and the upper guide surface 14, respectively, maybe controlled and continuously adjusted by rotating wheel 26 about thevertical axis, so that the vehicle will assume a substantially verticalposition during normal travel along a straight section of the roadsystem and will assume the proper inclination when passing through acurved section ofthe road system.

This may be accomplished by mounting wheel 26 by means of a respectivestub shaft 36 received in lateral flanges 38 of a forklike supportmember, which in turn is pivotally mounted in bearings 44 through a stubshaft 42. Due to this arrangement, wheel 26 may freely rotate about theaxis of its stub shafts 36 so to follow the movement of vehicle 20, butsimultaneously may freely move about the vertical axis of stub shaft 42thereby controlling the vertical position, i.e., the inclination ofvehicle 20.

In order to pivot wheel 26 in connection with stub shafts 42 about anangle so to exert the required action for controlling the inclination ofthe vehicle, stub shaft 42 may protrude beyond its associated bearing 44and carry a pinion 46 meshing with a worm gear 48. Thus, by rotatingworm gear 68 through a motor 49, the desired angular position of wheel26 with regard to the direction of movement may be accomplished. Therotational movement of worm gear 48 or the supply of appropriate signalsto engine 49, respectively, may be controlled by suitable meansresponsive to the inclination of vehicle 20, such as a gyroscopicarrangement or by a suitable feeler associated with the vehicle andengaging a guiding surface (not shown) provided at the upper guidesurface 14 against which wheel 26 rests. However, as these means are notan actual part of this invention, no further details are given withrespect thereto.

Due to this arrangement in accordance with the invention, it is possibleto design comparatively narrow cars as no minimum distance of wheels ina direction transverse to the direction of movement of the vehicle isnecessary as in conventional vehicles in order to secure the necessarystability.

The control of the direction of the vehicle may be carried out bysuitable guide tracks having suitable guiding surfaces and extendingalong the guide surfaces 13 of the brackets, by electrical conductors orthe like, with suitable sensor or special antenna means, respectively,picking up the signals or data supplied by such track or conductors. Asillustrated in FIG. 5, two opposite guiding surfaces 51, 52 extend in adirection transverse to the plane of the lower guide surface I3,following the course of the road system. These guiding surfacesconstitute the lateral walls of a channellike guide track 50, FIG. 5showing this track 50 in cross section, whereas FIG. 6 represents a topview thereof. Vehicle 20 is equipped with a feeler generally designated54 including a vertically extending rod 55 terminating at its lower endin a wiper or roller 56. Rod 55 may be pivotal about a pin 54a fastenedto vehicle 20 through wing plates 54b. Rod 55 may have transverseprotrusions each terminating in a ferromagnetic core 55a, 55b. Coils ofexcitation are associated with both cores 55a, b, respectively. Byenergizing coil 550, core 55a will be attracted so that wiper or roller56 will abut against guiding surface 51, whereas with coil 550' beingenergized and coil 550 being deenergized, core 55b will be attracted, sothat wiper or roller 56 will be detached from guiding surface 51 andwill abut against guiding surface 52.

In either position, feeler 54 will control the steering wheel 25 througha suitable link rod 53 connected to suitable hydraulic means (notshown), for example, in such a manner that wheel 25 is properly turnedand vehicle 20 will follow the desired route. The important aspect ofthis solution is that it permits to guide the vehicle along a selectedroute also at bifurcations, as this is illustrated in FIG. 6. In thearea designated 60, lower surface 14 separates into a left branch Ma anda right branch 14b and the channellike guide track 50 divergescorrespondingly. Therefore, with rod 55 engaging the right lateralguiding surface 52 of FIG. 5, feeler 54 will follow the lower borderline 52' in FIG. 6, that is the vehicle (moving in direction of arrowwill reach the right branch 14b. If the other position of feeler 54 isselected, with feeler being pushed against guiding surface 51, feeler 54will follow the upper border line 51' in FIG. 6, so that vehicle 20 willreach the left branch 14a. The decision, whether the feeler 54 shouldassume the left or the right position is made automatically as a resultof the program by which the vehicle was fed at the station at which thetrip was commenced. As evident, this constitutes a very simple, reliableand inexpensive solution for effecting a switching action at points ofbifurcation, with no movable rails or similar portions as inconventional switch arrangements. Moreover, the solution given by thepresent invention has the additional advantage, that no time is neededto change the position of the switch if a subsequent vehicle is to beguided to another branch than the preceding vehicle.

The width of track 50 may be substantially the same as the width ofroller or wiper 56, so that changing the state of energization of thetwo coils 55c, d actually does not effect the position of feeler 54, butmainly the direction of pressure by means of which roller 56 is urgedagainst one of the lateral guiding surfaces 51, 52 of track 50. However,alternatively track 50 may have a width materially larger than the widthof wiper or roller 56, so that member 56 is shifted between twodifferent end positions. In that case, care would be taken that movingfeeler 54 from one end position into the other, or vice versa, does notaffect the steering wheel 25. In all circumstances, the width of track50 should be as narrow as possible, if it crosses other routes, so thatwheels 25 will not interfere therewith.

The embodiment represented by FIG. 7 is based on the same principle asthe embodiment of FIG. 5 (or FIG. 6, respectively). In this case, twoguiding rails 61, 62 are provided, and vehicle 20 is equipped with twofeelers 63, 64 associated with guiding rails 61, 62, respectively. Thus,if vehicle 20 is to follow the course of the right guiding rail 62,feeler 64 will be actuated so that it comes into contact with the outervertical surface of rail 62, whereas feeler 63 is pivoted into anoutward position in which it is out of engagement with rail 62. If thevehicle 20 is to follow the course of the left rail 61, feeler 64 willbe moved outwardly, whereas feeler 63 is lowered and brought intoengagement with the outer surface of rail 61.

FIG. 8 shows an intersection of two branches 140, d of the specific roadsystem each having a channellike guiding track 50 as set forth inconnection with FIG. 5. In order to avoid any disturbances at suchpoints of intersection, the wiper 56 at the end of rod 55 of the feelersystem may have a comparatively great width in the direction of movementof the vehicle, which width is greater than the width of guiding track50, so that the feeler 54 may pass the crossing guiding track 50 withoutbeing affected thereby.

FIG. 9 demonstrates how the lateral walls of the guiding track 50simultaneously may be used for receiving a pair of electric live rails66 supplying electric energy for the vehicle, and correspondingly afeeler 54" may have two separate bosses 68a and 68b electricallyinsulated from each other, so that feeler 54" simultaneously may act asa slidable contact for transmitting the necessary energy to the motor ofthe vehicle.

FIG. 10 shows another embodiment of a guide track/feeler arrangement. Inthis case, guide track 50' is considerably wider than guide track 50 ofFIG. 5. Guiding surfaces 51', 52 do not both extend at the same side ofwheel 25 as in FIG. 5, but are located at opposite sides thereof, sothat, at points of bifurcations, wheel 25 does not cross a guide trackas this holds true with regard to the embodiment according to FIG. 5.Two different feeler arrangements 54', 54" are provided for cooperationwith either one of guiding surfaces 51', 52', respectively. Rods 55',55" terminating in rollers or wipers 56', 56", respectively, arepivotally mounted as at 71, 72. A connecting rod 76 is interlinkedbetween rods 55', 55 through pins 73, 74 and slidably supported inbearings 77', 77". The center of rod 76 carries a core 78 offerromagnetic material associated with two relays coils 78', 78

Upon energization of relay coil 78, core 78 will be attracted to theleft and will turn rod 55' in clockwise direction so that wiper orroller 56' slidably engages guiding surface 51', whereas wiper or roller56" is detached from guiding surface 52". An abutment member 80'restricts outward movement of rod 55' to the necessary extent. Withrelay coil 78' becoming deenergized and coil 78" energized, the opposrtemovement Wlll occur, the outward movements of rod 55" then being limitedby an abutment member 80".

At their upper ends, rods 55, 55" each are linked to control bars 75',75" which similarly as linking bar 53 in FIG. 5 affect a suitablehydraulic means (not shown), for example, for turning the steering wheelin accordance with the course of the guiding surfaces 51" or 52",respectively. Presuming the situation of FIG. 10, vehicle 20 will followa branch of the road system including the left guiding surface 51''. Ifvehicle 20 is to follow the right guiding surface 52', relay coil 78' isdeenergized, whereas relay coil 78" is energized. Thus, core 78 willmove to the right, roller 56' will disengage from wall 51' and roller56" will engage guiding surface 52' instead.

It will be understood, that various modifications of the embodimentsdescribed herein will be possible without departing from the spirit ofthis invention. Thus, for instance, guide track 50 may be provided inthe upper guide surface 14 rather than in lower guide surface 13.Likewise, the solenoids employed in the embodiments of FIG. 5 or 10, maybe replaced by hydraulic pistons, for example.

What I claim is:

l. A transportation system comprising a lower and an upper guide surfaceextending substantially parallel with respect to each other in spacedapart relationship and forming a specific road system independent of theconventional road system, and a plurality of individual vehiclesincluding means for propelling each said vehicle, each vehicle havingonly two lower wheels spaced apart from each other in the direction ofmovement of the vehicle, and one upper wheel, said lower wheels engagingsaid lower guide surface in a substantially freely movable manner andsaid upper wheel engaging said upper guide surface in a substantiallyfreely movable manner, means for urging said lower wheels and said upperwheel away from each other and towards said upper and lower surface,respectively, to an extent so that said vehicle is prevented fromturning over, means for rotating one of said lower wheels about an axisextending in a direction substantially perpendicular to said lowersurface for steering the vehicle, means for pivoting said upper wheelabout an axis extending in a direction substantially perpendicular tosaid upper guide surface in response to the inclination of the vehiclewith regard to said lower and said upper surface, respectively, so thatthe appropriate position of said vehicle with regard to said guidesurface is continuously maintained.

l i t t

1. A transportation system comprising a lower and an upper guide surfaceextending substantially parallel with respect to each other in spacedapart relationship and forming a specific road system independent of theconventional road system, and a plurality of individual vehiclesincluding means for propelling each said vehicle, each vehicle havingonly two lower wheels spaced apart from each other in the direction ofmovement of the vehicle, and one upper wheel, said lower wheels engagingsaid lower guide surface in a substantially freely movable manner andsaid upper wheel engaging said upper guide surface in a substantiallyfreely movable manner, means for urging said lower wheels and said upperwheel away from each other and towards said upper and lower surface,respectively, to an extent so that said vehicle is prevented fromturning over, means for rotating one of said lower wheels about an axisextending in a direction substantially perpendicular to said lowersurface for steering the vehicle, means for pivoting said upper wheelabout an axis extending in a direction substantially perpendicular tosaid upper guide surface in response to the inclination of the vehiclewith regard to said lower and said upper surface, respectively, so thatthe appropriate position of said vehicle with regard to said guidesurface is continuously maintained.